The Employers Forum On Age Responds To The Publication Of Draft Equality Bill

26 June 2008

Today The Employers Forum on Age (EFA), the UK's leading authority on age, comments on the Government's introduction of a draft Equality Bill proposing a major shakeup of discrimination laws in the UK that will have far-reaching effects for everyone, especially older people.

Rachel Krys, Director of the EFA comments: "Today's publication of the draft Equality Bill has been a long time coming - and we are pleased to see that ageism is now being treated as seriously as sexism and racism. There is an urgent need to address the massive inequalities faced by older people, particularly in the provision of public services, and with today's Bill the Government has certainly gone some way to addressing these issues. However we remain to be convinced that such a broad piece of legislation is the right way to achieve the massive social change required to end ageism.

At work, to really achieve equality there needs to be a fundamental change in the way we identify and reward talent and how the workplace is structured. Innovative employers have already realized that in the war for talent offering a new way of working means that they can attract and retain the very best. Legislation can only provide a framework to protect against unfair discrimination, it cannot achieve the level of culture change which is needed.

Our experience of the introduction of the age regulations has shown us just how complex legislating in this area is. It is only when employers start implementing the necessary changes that many of the unintended consequences come to light. We are also concerned that the current proposals to extend the laws on age discrimination to goods and services will require a raft of exemptions, which will result in confusion and detract from the areas that really need focus.

"As this Bill is still in the draft stages, we strongly recommend that the Government uses this time to continue engaging with good employers to ensure they have a real opportunity to make a vital contribution to this debate."

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For further information please contact:

The Employers Forum on Age
Rachel Krys: 020 7785 6556 - rachel.krys@efa.org.uk
Beth Vaughan: 020 7785 6539 - beth.vaughan@efa.org.uk

Or

Lansons Communications
Nicola Hussey: 0207 566 9718 - nicolah@lansons.com


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